Solar PV Permit in Blackfoot, Idaho

Blackfoot requires a solar pv permit for: City Building Permit required for the structural/racking portion, billed under the City's valuation-based Building Permit Fee table (City Fee Schedule, Resolution No. 425, effective 10/01/2025); Electrical Permit for PV wiring/interconnection: per the City's own Permits & Applications page, electrical permit applications 'are acquired through the State of Idaho' (DOPL Building Safety Program, https://dopl.idaho.gov/ele/) — but the City's own Fee Schedule (Resolution No. 425) separately lists a City-charged electrical fee table (temporary service $40, residential services $80/dwelling unit + $5/room), an unresolved conflict between the City's stated routing and its own published fee table; No distinct solar/photovoltaic line item exists in the City Building Permit Fee table or the Electrical Permit fee table published by the City; Contact the City Building & Safety Department (208-785-8600 opt 3) to confirm which entity (City or State DOPL) actually issues and collects the electrical permit fee for a given project, given the documented conflict. If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of Blackfoot Building & Safety Department (Building Department) at (208) 812-4198 (Building & Safety Department); (208) 785-8600 opt 3 (Planning & Zoning Department, for permit application requests); (208) 785-8602 (fax, per Residential Building Permit Application form) before starting work.

No. Solar PV installations are billed under the City's standard valuation-based Building Permit fee table for the structural/racking portion. For the electrical/interconnection portion, the City's own guidance says electrical permits are obtained through the State of Idaho DOPL, but the City's own Fee Schedule also lists a City-charged electrical fee table — this conflict is unresolved as of this review, so confirm directly with the Building & Safety Department.

Blackfoot does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Blackfoot Building & Safety Department (Building Department) at (208) 812-4198 (Building & Safety Department); (208) 785-8600 opt 3 (Planning & Zoning Department, for permit application requests); (208) 785-8602 (fax, per Residential Building Permit Application form) for current turnaround.

You'll need: Residential Building Permit Application; Electrical Permit Application. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Apply through City of Blackfoot Building & Safety Department (Building Department) at 157 North Broadway, Blackfoot, ID 83221. Phone: (208) 812-4198 (Building & Safety Department); (208) 785-8600 opt 3 (Planning & Zoning Department, for permit application requests); (208) 785-8602 (fax, per Residential Building Permit Application form), email: cclark@cityofblackfoot.org (Chase Clark, Building Official); mmyler@cityofblackfoot.org (Misty Myler, Building Permit Technician). Official information: https://www.cityofblackfoot.org/236/Building-Safety-Department.

Blackfoot, Idaho has adopted: Blackfoot Municipal Code 10-1-1 ('Administrative Code Adopted; Building Department Established') adopts 'the administrative code, current edition as adopted by the state ... published by the International Conference Of Building Officials,' for administration, organization, and enforcement of the technical codes governing site preparation and construction within the city. (2003 Code sec 4-01-01; amd. 2012 Code). Source: Blackfoot Municipal Code 10-1-1, American Legal Publishing (codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/blackfootid/latest/blackfoot_id/0-0-0-4456).; Blackfoot Municipal Code 10-2-1 ('Building And Residential Codes Adopted') adopts 'the building code, current edition as adopted by the state ... published by the International Conference Of Building Officials' (excepting automatic sprinkler system requirements for 3- and 4-unit Group R buildings) and 'the residential code, current edition as adopted by the state,' as the city's code governing erection, construction, alteration, repair, demolition, occupancy, and permitting of all buildings and structures in the city. (2003 Code sec 4-02-01; amd. 2012 Code). Source: Blackfoot Municipal Code 10-2-1, American Legal Publishing (codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/blackfootid/latest/blackfoot_id/0-0-0-4470).; Both codified sections tie the city's adopted building/residential code editions to whatever edition 'is adopted by the state' at any given time (i.e., the Idaho Building Code Board / DOPL Building Safety Program's statewide-adopted IBC/IRC cycle under the Idaho Building Code Act, Idaho Code Title 39, Chapter 41), rather than freezing a specific year in the municipal code text itself. No City of Blackfoot source was found stating a specific current IBC/IRC/IECC edition year independent of this 'as adopted by the state' language.; The City's own Residential Building Permit Application / Residential Plan Review Checklist (PDF, cityofblackfoot.org/DocumentCenter/View/89) states plans are to be designed to the '2012 IRC Code & 2012 IECC (with Idaho amendments)' -- however this document appears to be a reused/adapted template (it also references 'Twin Falls Highway District,' 'SUI zone,' and 'Twin Falls' designated flood plain areas,' which are not Blackfoot or Bingham County features), so its cited 2012 IRC/IECC edition year is treated as potentially stale/templated rather than authoritative, and is superseded per Municipal Code 10-2-1's 'current edition as adopted by the state' language. Flagged rather than relied upon for the codesAdopted edition year. Source: City of Blackfoot Residential Building Permit Application (PDF).; Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), Building Safety Program, administers the statewide building code framework (Idaho Building Code Act, Idaho Code Title 39, Chapter 41) and issues HVAC/mechanical, electrical, and plumbing permits directly for jurisdictions that have not assumed those trades locally. Source: DOPL Building Safety Program overview (dopl.idaho.gov/bld/). [2026-07-16 liveness re-check: the previously-cited 'DOPL Permits portal' at dbs.idaho.gov/permits/ no longer resolves to a permits page -- curl confirms it now 302-redirects to the bare dopl.idaho.gov homepage (not a specific permits/services page), consistent with DOPL's dbs.idaho.gov-to-dopl.idaho.gov domain migration. The live current pages for purchasing Electrical, HVAC, and Plumbing permits are dopl.idaho.gov/ele/, dopl.idaho.gov/hvac/, and dopl.idaho.gov/plb/ respectively, each carrying a 'Purchase a[n] [Trade] Permit' button linking to DOPL's shared ArcGIS-based online permit tool (idaho.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=c568d3c03d5f43f0841dcfa9c2a9537e). All three trade pages and the tool's landing shell were fetched live and returned HTTP 200 on 2026-07-16; the ArcGIS tool itself is a JavaScript-rendered app whose internal interactive content could not be verified via curl.]; The City of Blackfoot's own Permits & Applications page states verbatim: 'All HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing permit applications are acquired through the State of Idaho at https://dbs.idaho.gov/permits/.' This directly confirms the prior research's claim that Blackfoot routes mechanical (HVAC), electrical, and plumbing permitting to the state DOPL system rather than self-administering those trades -- the City issues and reviews only the Building Permit (and related general permits: demolition, retaining wall, mobile home block-set, roof repair, fence) itself. Source: City of Blackfoot Permits & Applications page (cityofblackfoot.org/166/Permits-Applications). [2026-07-16 note: this is an accurate quote of the City's own page, but the URL it cites (dbs.idaho.gov/permits/) is itself now dead -- see the live DOPL replacement pages noted in the codesAdopted entry above.]; CONFLICT NOTE (flagged, not resolved by inference): The City of Blackfoot's own Fee Schedule (Resolution No. 425, effective October 1, 2025) contains detailed 'MECHANICAL PERMITS,' 'ELECTRICAL PERMITS,' and 'PLUMBING PERMITS' fee sections with itemized city-charged fees for HVAC units, gas lines, residential/commercial electrical services, and residential/commercial plumbing -- which appears to directly contradict the Permits & Applications page's statement that all HVAC/electrical/plumbing permit applications are 'acquired through the State of Idaho.' Both documents are official City of Blackfoot publications and both were independently verified to resolve/load. This file does not guess which document is authoritative or stale; it reports the Permits & Applications page's explicit routing statement as the department's self-described intake process (consistent with the prior research finding), while separately publishing the Fee Schedule's mechanical/electrical/plumbing fee tables as-is as City-published figures, and flags this discrepancy for a human to resolve with the Building & Safety Department directly at (208) 812-4198. Sources: City of Blackfoot Fee Schedule, Resolution No. 425 (PDF, cityofblackfoot.org/DocumentCenter/View/2021/City-of-Blackfoot-Fee-Schedule-10-01-2025); City of Blackfoot Permits & Applications page (cityofblackfoot.org/166/Permits-Applications).; IRC Section 602.10 (wall bracing) compliance is explicitly required per the City's Residential Building Permit Application: 'All structures are required to be compliant with IRC section 602.10 for wall bracing... Any walls exceeding 10 feet tall are not prescriptive wall bracing and are required to be engineered for shear.' Source: City of Blackfoot Residential Building Permit Application (PDF).. Local amendments apply — see the Blackfoot overview page for the full list.